Bolesław the Forgotten
Bolesław the Forgotten or the Cruel was a semi-legendary King of Poland of the Piast dynasty from 1034 until his death in 1038 or 1039. He was allegedly the first-born son of Mieszko II Lambert.
In Polish historiography
In older times Bolesław was widely described as historical monarch of Poland. Many Polish historians were sure about his existence: Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Oswald Balzer, Roman Grodecki, Feliks Koneczny, Stanisław Zakrzewski, and Zygmunt Wojciechowski. They had the following arguments:- Casimir I the Restorer was sent to monastery in Germany. Usually only the younger sons were sent to the monasteries, implying that Casimir had an older brother.
- Name Casimir had not been used earlier in the Piast dynasty. It would be natural to name the eldest son as Bolesław, to honor Mieszko's father - Bolesław I Chrobry.
- In the period 1034–1039 Casimir was living in Germany. It would have been impossible to leave the Polish state alone, without a monarch for such a long time.